News

This week’s edition of the Counties Power Game of the Week sees Waiuku hosting Mt Wellington in the Women’s Development competition at Waiuku 3 at 1:00pm on Saturday.

Waiuku plays in the Auckland Women’s Development competition and they are the only Counties Manukau club in the 10-team comp. Waiuku coach Kel Ratu said before the start of the season there was a lot of interest in forming a women’s team at the club and it came about from there.

“I’ve got local girls from all different walks of life. A few mums and some teenagers and they make up this team. I’ve been teaching them what I know about the game and I have an excellent backs coach so between the two of us we have put together a team which has shown in the past that they can do the business.”

Ratu said it’s a different level of football playing in the Auckland competition, but he sees a lot of potential in his side.

“We are getting a lot of exposure in the Auckland competition. The way we look at it is that it’s not about winning or losing but what you get out of the game and we have done some really good stuff. We are continuously developing and the girls are understanding the rules and they learn something new every week.”

Ratu said his side are expecting a hard game against Mt Wellington in the Counties Power Game of the Week this weekend. He said his forwards will have to measure up and set the platform for the backs to operate.

“I have a couple of girls from Pokeno who have been going really well and a local girl Rose Perry who is our first five, she’s come a long way. All of the girl’s confidence is starting to grow. It’s exciting to see.”

The Mt Wellington Women’s Development side take the same stance as Waiuku and are all about developing their players and not about the result. Coach George Gerrard said he’s got girls in his side who have never played the game before.

“I’ve got about six girls, who up until this year had never played a game of rugby in their life. It’s great to see them give it a go and they are doing it for the enjoyment. We are a whanau club so we don’t boast any rep players yet and our club is like a stepping stone into the rugby world.”

Gerrard said it’s been a bit of an up and down season for his side this year.

“It’s probably been the shortest season we have had. Some of my girls are teachers so they come when they can, as I said, it’s more of an enjoyable thing to do. We are teaching them a good base of rugby skills and they are taught how to tackle properly so they don’t get injured.”

Gerrard and his side can’t wait to play at Waiuku on Saturday.

“We have heard they are pretty similar to our team. We have never played them before so they are a bit of a dark horse for us. We are looking forward to getting out and playing them.”

Get to Waiuku 3 at 1:00pm on Saturday to watch the Counties Power Game of the Week between the Waiuku and Mt Wellington Women’s Development sides.